roast chicken with onion gravy and sweet potatoes
you can roast a chicken, it's so easy!!!!
Earlier this week I showed you how to carve a whole roast chicken, and today you’ll learn how to cook one!
The idea of roasting a whole chicken can seem scary/hard/intimidating at first… until you do it once and realize that it’s both one of the easiest and most impressive meals you could possibly make. Yes, it takes a little longer than your average weeknight dinner (1 hour and 45 minutes of cook time, plus you will let the chicken hang out for a day or two in the fridge to dry brine beforehand). BUT the huge majority of that time is totally hands off, and the payoff is so, so worth it. Crispy golden skin! Juicy meat! A house that smells phenomenal! A meal that makes you feel proud of yourself for having cooked it!
Whether this will be your first or hundredth time roasting a chicken, I’m so excited to share this new recipe with you. She’s an efficient beauty queen.
We’re going to dry brine (aka just season with salt!) the chicken for anywhere between 24 and 48 hours, leaving it uncovered in the fridge (yes, that’s safe — just don’t let any other food touch it!). This will give you incredibly juicy and flavorful meat and perfectly crispy skin. We’ll pair it with baked sweet potatoes that cook at the same time, as well as an onion gravy that we’ll whip up using all of that delicious chicken schmaltz (aka fat drippings), because gravy should be enjoyed year-round, not just at Thanksgiving!
This is definitely a meal to make when you want to impress — it’s also one to cook any old Sunday evening. You’ll be shocked by how little effort it requires!
I went back and forth on whether or not to include a salad in the recipe itself. I ended up leaving it out because I love this simple, wholesome meal of chicken and potatoes as is. Just throw a lil parsley on there to freshen up all that beige (or not — beige food is the best food!). If you want even more greens on your plate, I recommend a simple salad of arugula tossed with EVOO, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and freshly grated Parm. That’s what you see in the opening pic!
Since you’re about to be a pro at roasting chicken, try my tandoori-spiced chicken and potatoes with peanut chutney & crispy kale next. That recipe uses a yogurt marinade, which is another tasty way to seal in moisture. And I still dream about that peanut chutney! After that, cook my rotisserie-ish chicken with schmaltzy cabbage. You’ll be obsessed with schmaltz after cooking today’s onion gravy — just you wait until you see what it does to a humble head of cabbage!
Serves 4 to 6
Cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes (plus 24 to 48 hours for dry-brining)
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